French cops probe 'death' after Teva drug alert

French police suspect that the suspicious death of a 92-year-old man could be caused due to consumption of Teva Pharma's diuretic, furosemide. Drug regulator ANSM recently asked pharmacies and consumers to return 190,000 boxes of the drug, which may contain a powerful sedative called zopiclone

French police probe the death of a man found with opened packages of Teva's diuretic, furosemide

Singapore: Merely two days after France's drug regulator, ANSM, asked pharmacies and consumers there to return almost 190,000 boxes of Teva Pharma's diuretic, furosemide, a 92-year-old man was found dead around open packages of the same drug in his house.

Reuters confirmed that the French police have found the open packages of the drug and have begun investigations into whether it could have anything to do with the death. The autopsy of the victim will be conducted today, police confirmed.

France's pharmaceutical watchdog, ANSM, had earlier said that it was possible that the drug in question contained the sedative zopiclone, but was labeled as a diuretic. It said that zopiclone causes drowsiness and sleep that can last upto to two days for elderly patients.

The drug regulator issued a press statement claiming that, "It was too early to determine if the recall and the man's death were related." Further, ANSM now plans to conduct an on-site inspection of Teva's generics lab to look into the labelling problem.

Teva spokesperson told that although they are looking into the report of the death, the recall of the drug is limited to France only. The company also added that they would be conducting their own inquiry into a possible link between the death and the recalled drug.